''Move Back Home'' is the fifth studio album by the American
punk rock band
the Queers
The Queers are an American punk rock band, formed in 1981 by the Portsmouth, New Hampshire native Joseph “Joe” P. King (a.k.a. Joe Queer) along with Scott Gildersleeve (a.k.a. Tulu), and John “Jack” Hayes (a.k.a. Wimpy Rutherford). With ...
, released in May 1995 by
Lookout! Records
Lookout Records (stylized as Lookout! Records) was an independent record label, initially based in Laytonville, California and later in Berkeley, California, Berkeley, focusing on punk rock. Established in 1987, the label is best known for having ...
. The recording sessions were marred by the band members' drug problems, and many of the songs were written in the studio.
Producer and Lookout! president
Larry Livermore
Lawrence Hayes (born October 28, 1947), better known by his stage name Larry Livermore, is an American singer, musician, record producer, and author, best known as the co-founder of Lookout Records.
Biography
In 1977, Hayes began to attend pun ...
was so displeased with the result that he took his name off of the album, and several involved parties, including singer and guitarist Joe Queer, later regarded it as sub-par. After the Queers rescinded their master recordings from Lookout! in 2006, ''Move Back Home'' was reissued by
Asian Man Records the following year, having been
remixed and
remastered by Queer and recording engineer
Mass Giorgini
Massimiliano Adelmo Giorgini (born 1968) is an American bassist and record producer who rose to fame when several of the bands he produced experienced huge gains in popularity during the pop-punk boom of the mid-'90s. Among these bands was Giorg ...
and with the tracks from the ''
Surf Goddess'' EP added.
Recording
The Queers had a reputation for heavy drinking and regular drug use, including problems with
heroin.
Band leader Joe King (aka Joe Queer) had tried to cut back his alcohol consumption and to quit heroin, and had staged an
intervention for longtime drummer Hugh O'Neill to get him to quit as well; O'Neill was forced to take a leave of absence from the band, and was absent from their
cover version
In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...
of the
Ramones album ''
Rocket to Russia
''Rocket to Russia'' is the third studio album by the American punk rock band the Ramones, and was released on November 4, 1977, through Sire Records. Its origins date back to the summer of 1977, when "Sheena Is a Punk Rocker" was released as ...
'' (released as part of the
Ramones covers album series
Between 1993 and 2000, a series of Ramones covers albums were released by Selfless Records (later Clearview Records), an independent record label based in Garland, Texas specializing in punk rock, on which bands influenced by seminal punk group ...
) and from their 1994 album ''
Beat Off
''Beat Off'' is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in 1994 by Lookout! Records. Recorded during a time when the Queers' usual drummer, Hugh O'Neill, was on a forced leave of absence from the band to deal ...
''.
He rejoined the band that summer, playing on the ''
Surf Goddess'' EP; Livermore produced the recording, and later recalled the sessions as being extremely enjoyable.
[Livermore, pp. 228–229.] He was excited to return to Sonic Iguana Studios in
Lafayette, Indiana
Lafayette ( , ) is a city in and the county seat of Tippecanoe County, Indiana, United States, located northwest of Indianapolis and southeast of Chicago. West Lafayette, on the other side of the Wabash River, is home to Purdue University, whi ...
to record ''Move Back Home'' with the Queers and recording engineer
Mass Giorgini
Massimiliano Adelmo Giorgini (born 1968) is an American bassist and record producer who rose to fame when several of the bands he produced experienced huge gains in popularity during the pop-punk boom of the mid-'90s. Among these bands was Giorg ...
, but soon discovered that King and O'Neill were back on drugs and that the band did not have much material written.
Reflecting on the sessions in 2007, King admitted that the band was not prepared to make a record:
We were all fucked up (at least I was) and not ready to record. But Larry was dangling 5 grand in front of each of our pimply little faces and that was enough for us to crawl out of our rat holes in New Hampshire and get to the studio. The plan was to drive straight to the studio, record as fast as we could, grab the dough and bail back to the aforementioned rat holes as soon as possible, patting ourselves on the back for a job well done ..I'll be honest; the only genius move about that time would've been to throw our asses into rehab.
Having worked with the Queers on several previous records, Livermore expected the band to have new songs already written and for the sessions to go swiftly, and was disappointed to find that this was not the case:
Joe and I had spent hours on the phone talking about the amazing new songs he was writing, but when we started recording, I discovered that only a couple of those songs actually existed. The rest were just snippets of melody or a catchy hook. In some cases, he hadn't gotten farther than a title ..The new record was essentially written in the studio, with Mass Giorgini waiting patiently at his mixing board while we struggled to come up with ideas, riffs, and choruses. Even when something interesting did develop, Joe was seldom in the mood to pursue it. "It's fine like it is," he'd snarl when I suggested another take or some additional harmonies. It felt like his primary purpose was to get this thing done as quickly as possible and skedaddle back to the dope man in New Hampshire.
King recalled that "there were a few fights" during recording, including an incident in which he, irritable over having to get up early to work on repeated vocal takes while his bandmates slept in until the afternoon, launched into a tirade and threatened to quit the sessions.
Among the songs the band recorded for the album were a cover version of
the Beach Boys
The Beach Boys are an American rock band that formed in Hawthorne, California, in 1961. The group's original lineup consisted of brothers Brian, Dennis, and Carl Wilson, their cousin Mike Love, and friend Al Jardine. Distinguished by the ...
' 1963 single "
Hawaii
Hawaii ( ; haw, Hawaii or ) is a state in the Western United States, located in the Pacific Ocean about from the U.S. mainland. It is the only U.S. state outside North America, the only state that is an archipelago, and the only state ...
", and "High School Psychopath II", a sequel to
Screeching Weasel
Screeching Weasel is an American punk rock band consisting of Ben Weasel (vocals), Mike Kennerty (guitar), Mike Hunchback (guitar), Zach "Poutine" Brandner (bass) and Pierre Marche (drums). Screeching Weasel is originally from the Chicago subur ...
's song "I Was a High School Psychopath" from their 1993 album ''
Wiggle''. With the album nearly finished, it was decided that one more song was needed, so the band elected to cover "That Girl" by Livermore's band the Potatomen.
Livermore later recalled that he struggled to teach the band the song: Joe, it doesn't go quite like that,' I'd say, and try to get him to listen to the original recording. 'Whaddaya talking about, it sounds great,' he'd growl, and go back to playing it his way."
He got a similar response when he tried to convince the band to spend a bit more time in the studio to re-record some parts and work some more on
mixing; the band insisted the album sounded fine, and headed back to New Hampshire.
According to King, the band wanted to title the album ''Next Stop Rehab'', "but Lookout in their infinite stupidity made us change it. They always were party poopers."
Ultimately, Livermore was so disappointed by the recordings that he decided to remove his name from the album credits.
"''Move Back Home'' wasn't a terrible record", he wrote in his 2015 memoir. "Considering the state Joe and Hugh were in, it's impressive that it got made at all. Still, I was unhappy enough about it that I refused to let myself be credited as producer."
"Larry should never have promised us the money", wrote King in 2007, saying that Screeching Weasel frontman
Ben Weasel
Benjamin Foster (born 1968), also known as Ben Weasel, is an American musician, best known as the lead singer and guitarist of the punk rock band Screeching Weasel.
Early life
Foster was born in 1968, and was raised in Prospect Heights, Ill ...
, who had produced the Queers' previous three albums, helped convince Livermore to take his name off the record. "Ben and others talked Larry into taking his name off the album as producer but we thought he did as good as anyone could have under the circumstances. Probably better."
Artwork
For the album cover, Lookout!'s
Chris Appelgren wanted to use a design featuring the "Queers cat"
mascot
A mascot is any human, animal, or object thought to bring luck, or anything used to represent a group with a common public identity, such as a school, professional sports team, society, military unit, or brand name. Mascots are also used as fi ...
he had developed for the band based on old
Felix the Cat
Felix the Cat is a cartoon character created in 1919 by Pat Sullivan and Otto Messmer during the silent film era. An anthropomorphic black cat with white eyes, a black body, and a giant grin, he was one of the most recognized cartoon characte ...
images, and had used in the artwork for ''
Love Songs for the Retarded
''Love Songs for the Retarded'' is the second studio album by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in 1993 by Lookout! Records. It was the first of five studio albums the band would record for Lookout!, and their first by the lineup o ...
'' (1993), ''Beat Off'' (1994), and ''Surf Goddess'' (1995).
[Prested, p. 97.] The band rejected his idea, however, in favor of a live performance photograph taken by Lookout! employee
Molly Neuman
Molly Neuman (born June 18, 1972) is an American drummer, writer and publisher, originally from the Washington, D.C. area who has performed in such influential bands as Bratmobile, the Frumpies, and the PeeChees. She was a pioneer of the ear ...
, who was also Appelgren's girlfriend.
"I did the ''Beat Off'' artwork with some logo illustrations by
ookout! co-ownerPatrick Hynes, and the band seemed to like the Queers cats I was making", said Appelgren in 2014; "I had borrowed some old Felix comics for the art for ''Loves Songs for the Retarded'' and was continuing the theme. It wasn't requested by them—I sort of foisted it on them. By ''Move Back Home'' they were pretty tired of it, I think
..The art was uninspired—they wanted a live photo and threw out my idea of a Queers cat standing head down in front of a cartoon front door, looking dejected."
Appelgren incorporated his "dejected cat" illustrations into the corner of the front cover, and on the album's back cover.
Reception
Livermore was not the only one involved with ''Move Back Home'' who was disappointed with the album: Writing in 2007, King called both it and the Queer's previous studio album, 1994's ''
Beat Off
''Beat Off'' is the fourth studio album by the American punk rock band the Queers, released in 1994 by Lookout! Records. Recorded during a time when the Queers' usual drummer, Hugh O'Neill, was on a forced leave of absence from the band to deal ...
'', "mediocre", saying they did not measure up to albums put out during the same period by the band's peers, specifically Screeching Weasel's ''
My Brain Hurts
''My Brain Hurts'' is the third studio album by the Chicago-based punk rock band Screeching Weasel. The album was originally released on CD, vinyl and cassette in September 1991 through Lookout Records. It was the group's first album on Lookout as ...
'' (1991),
Green Day's ''
Dookie
''Dookie'' is the third studio album and the major label debut by American rock band Green Day, released on February 1, 1994, by Reprise Records. The band's first collaboration with producer Rob Cavallo, it was recorded in late 1993 at Fantas ...
'' (1994), and
the Mr. T Experience's ''
Love Is Dead'' (1996).
Reflecting on it in 2014, Appelgren said that "the recording wasn't that strong and while there are some great songs, it's got some weak tracks. It still did pretty well, but didn't feel like a step forward as the previous releases all did. I always appreciated records that felt like they were progressions from where the band had been before, and ''Move Back Home'' felt like a lateral record. It didn't advance the notion of the Queers."
In his book ''Punk USA: The Rise and Fall of Lookout Records'' (2014), author Kevin Prested called it "the band's filler album. With punk-by-the-numbers compositions, the Queers had lost some of the flair of the two previous albums, giving the impression of rushed new songs. If ''Surf Goddess'' had been a stopgap, then perhaps with more time they could have created a more thought-out release. While not bad by any means, the band had been building up to something on another level with the fantastic ''Love Songs for the Retarded'' and ''Beat Off'', which is probably why ''Move Back Home'' felt disappointing."
Critic
Robert Christgau gave the album a rating of "neither" in his ''Consumer Guide'', marking it as an album which "may impress once or twice with consistent craft or an arresting track or two. Then it won't."
One critic who did give the album a positive review was
Kembrew McLeod; Writing for
AllMusic
AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...
, he rated it 4 stars out of 5 and said "''Move Back Home'' demonstrates that the Queers are getting better and better at channeling the black leather jacket-clad spirit of their punk forefathers
Ramones.html" ;"title="he
Ramones">he
Ramones They, of course, still haven't grown up — Joe still sings about not having a girlfriend and acting like a jerk, but no one else can do it better, save for the Mr. T Experience's
Dr. Frank. The best demonstration of how good they've gotten at crafting great pop songs is the fact that it's hard to tell which song is a
Brian Wilson cover and which one is an original."
Reissue
In 2006 the Queers followed several other former Lookout! artists in rescinding their master tapes and licensing rights from the label, invoking a clause in their contract citing delinquent royalty payments.
[Prested, p. 191.] They signed to
Asian Man Records, who reissued all of the band's Lookout! albums in 2007, each having been
remixed and
remastered by Giorgini at Sonic Iguana. King assisted with the remixing of ''Move Back Home'', writing in the
liner notes
Liner notes (also sleeve notes or album notes) are the writings found on the sleeves of LP record albums and in booklets that come inserted into the compact disc jewel case or the equivalent packaging for cassettes.
Origin
Liner notes are desc ...
that "Mass and I remixed and used double vocals not on the original album. We beefed up the guitar sound and drums. It's way better than it was. We just did the stuff we would have done if we hadn't run off so quickly."
He and Livermore wrote liner notes reflecting on the recording sessions, and Livemore restored his name to the album as its producer.
The reissue was given a new cover and artwork, and the tracks from the ''Surf Goddess'' EP were added as bonus tracks.
Track listing
Writing credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
Personnel
Credits adapted from the album's liner notes.
The Queers
* Joe Queer (Joe King) – lead vocals,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
;
remixing of 2007 reissue
* B-Face (Chris Barnard) –
bass guitar
The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...
, backing vocals
* Hugh O'Neill –
drums, backing vocals
Additional performers
*
Dan Vapid
Dan Schafer (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Dan Vapid, is a punk rock musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is best known for his participation in Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and vario ...
– guitar on tracks from the ''
Surf Goddess'' EP
Production
*
Larry Livermore
Lawrence Hayes (born October 28, 1947), better known by his stage name Larry Livermore, is an American singer, musician, record producer, and author, best known as the co-founder of Lookout Records.
Biography
In 1977, Hayes began to attend pun ...
–
producer
*
Mass Giorgini
Massimiliano Adelmo Giorgini (born 1968) is an American bassist and record producer who rose to fame when several of the bands he produced experienced huge gains in popularity during the pop-punk boom of the mid-'90s. Among these bands was Giorg ...
–
audio engineer,
mixing engineer
A mixing engineer (or simply mix engineer) is responsible for combining ("mixing") different sonic elements of an auditory piece into a complete rendition (also known as "final mix" or "mixdown"), whether in music, film, or any other content of a ...
; remixing and
remastering of 2007 reissue
Artwork
*
Molly Neuman
Molly Neuman (born June 18, 1972) is an American drummer, writer and publisher, originally from the Washington, D.C. area who has performed in such influential bands as Bratmobile, the Frumpies, and the PeeChees. She was a pioneer of the ear ...
– cover photograph
*
Chris Appelgren – illustrations and layout
*Brian Medley – interior band photograph
*Yosef Glushien – layout and logo of 2007 reissue
Notes
I On the original Lookout! Records release of ''Move Back Home'', Joe King (aka Joe Queer) is credited as writer of all tracks with the exceptions of "That Girl", written by Livermore; "Hawaii", credited to Brian Wilson; and "High School Psychopath II", credited to King, Barnard, O'Neill, and
Dan Vapid
Dan Schafer (born January 18, 1970), better known by his stage name Dan Vapid, is a punk rock musician from Chicago, Illinois, United States. He is best known for his participation in Screeching Weasel, The Riverdales, The Methadones, and vario ...
.
The 2007 reissue on Asian Man Records credits Barnard and O'Neill as co-writers on seven total tracks, and omits Vapid.
The writing credits listed here are adapted from the Asian Man release, with the exception of "Hawaii"; on both releases this song is credited to Brian Wilson, but it was one of 35 Beach Boys songs on which Mike Love was awarded co-writer credit in 1994 as the result of the lawsuit ''
Love v. Wilson''.
References
{{Authority control
The Queers albums
1995 albums
Lookout! Records albums
Asian Man Records albums